Anchored heel protector



`luly 5, 1938. c. H. DANIELS ANCHORED HEEL PROTECTOR Filed 001;. 8, 1955Patented July 5, 1938 UNITED STATES `:PATE N T OFF IEE 2 Claims.

This application relates to improvements in `heel protectors for shoeswhich are anchored in place as they are attached.

It is customary practice in shoe construction to attach the heels to theshoe with nails passing through the cutersole and clinched to theinnersole. In spite of careful construction it is `almost always foundthat the nails form protuberances which can be felt by the wearer oftheshoes. Lining pieces have been placed overthe innersole at the heelportions of the shoes to cover the nails, but these lining pieces are sothin that the nail protuberances can still be-"felt, and furthermore thelining pieces, if merely cemented in place, become loose and detachedfrom the shoes.

The purpose of the present invention is to cone struct the shoes in sucha manner that the heads orlclinched points of the nails which secure theheels to `the shoes, are countersunk below the top surface ofthe heelprotector or pad, and will not form objectionable protuberances as theshoes are worn.

Afurther object of the present invention is the 'attachment' of theheels to the shoes in such a f manner that the nails are held by a nailanchoring portion of -the heelprotector below the normallevel thereof/orby a bottom portion of the heel protector that is harder, and to whichthe nail points will be clinched while passing through the softer upperportion thereof.

A still further object of my invention is the design of Vheel pad-swhich may be placed upon or ,fitted in skived out portions of theinnersole to Areceive the heel nails and in which the heel pad includesa nail anchoring section vulcanized in a cushion-of rubber whereby thenails when driven in either from the outer or inner sides of the shoewill pass throughthe soft rubber of the cushion and be anchored on thesection so that the nail heads or clinched points will lie beneath theupper level of the rubber cushion.

The heel pads may be built into the shoes when made or put in placeafter the shoes are finished. Thel heel pads may be made from variousmaterials such as rubber, sponge rubber, felt or other soft materialwhich is combined with stiffer material such as metal, leather orfabric. The anchoring section may be in one piece or several pieces.

Further objects and advantages of my improvements will be more readilyapparent from the following description taken in connection with theattached drawing in which specific embodiments of my invention aredisclosed.

(Cl. Sti- 37) In the drawing,

`Fig. 1 is a plan View partially shown in section of a composite rubberand fibre-board heel pad;

Fig. 2 is a transverse section taken on the plane indicated 2--2 in Fig.1;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section taken of a portion of the innersolewith the heel pad in place;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary vertical section of. the heel portion of a shoeshowing the heel nails clinchedrto the nbre-board of the heel pad, I0

Fig. 5 is a detail section of the heel portion of a shoe in which theheel nails are driven from the inside of the shoe.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary longitudinal section` similar to Fig. 3 butshowing a modied form of @f5 the heel pad;

Fig. 7 is a plan view partially shown in section of a furthermodification of the heel pad;

Fig. 8 is a detail vertical section of the heel portion of a shoeshowing the heel -pad of Fig. '7i-fg() in position;

Fig. 9 is a detail section of the metal plate shown in Figs. 7 and 8;and

Fig. l0 is a longitudinal section of an improved insole.

Referring to Fig. 4, the outersole of the shoe is indicated at It, theinnersole at I?. anda portion of the shoe counter is shown at I4. Therubber heel It disclosed in this embodiment is attached in accordancewith customary practice by nails I8. rEhe heads 23 of the nails arereceived within the body of the rubber heel. The heels are attached in aheeling machine which turns. over the points 22 of the' nails, asillustrated. In ordinary practice these bent over nail points 22 are`merely g5 clinched to the upperA portion of the innersole, and in spiteof careful construction tend to form protuberances within the shoe,especiallyas the shoes become worn.

According to the present invention, the points 40 22 of the nails I8 areclinched to heel pads which may be made as parts of innersoles orseparate therefrom. One form of heel pad 24 is shown in Fig. 1 andcomprises a body of rubber 26 which may be of any desired grade such assoft rubber 45 or sponge rubber which will, however, permit the points22 of the heel nails to pass through the rubber when turned over againstthe metal of the last so that the points lie beneath the upper level ofthe rubber heel pad as the rubber springs 50 back to position after thenailing operation. It will be understood that the rubber will becompressed against the last so that the nail points will countersink inthe rubber. According to the preferred embodiment, the heel pad 24includes 55 a nail anchoring section 28 therein and adjacent theunderside thereof so that there is a thicker layer of rubber above thereinforcement than below the reinforcement. The anchoring section 25 inthis form may be of flbreboard and may include small perforations 39, asillustrated, order that the rubber 25 will flow through the perforationsand bind the anchoring section more rmly in position. Thus the turnedover points 22 of. the heel nails Will clinch to theanchoring section 23thereby holding the heel pad in place and preventing nail protuberancesin the shoes.

The construction illustrated is just as satisfactory when used withshoes in which the heel nails are driven from the inner side of theshoes, as shown in Fig. 5, in which the outersole I0, innersole I2 andheel cushion 24, including rubber 26 and perforated reinforcement 28,are the same as previously described. The nails 32 are driven from theinner side of the shoe into the heel 34 so that the heads 3S of thenails are forced through the softer rubber 2G to anchor upon the section28, thus the nail heads are countersunk in pockets, and it is impossiblefor the wearer to feel the nails in spite of long continued use of theshoes.

'Ihe heel pads could, of' course, be placed over the innersole, but itis preferable to set the pads into the innersoles, as illustrated, thusthe innersole I2 is skived away at its rear portion to leave a thinsection 33, and there is a bevel surface 49 between the skived portionand the full thickness of the innersole. The heel pad is formed to fitinto the skived out portion of the innersole so that the upper side ofthe heel pad will be substantially on a level with the upper face of thefull thickness innersole, although it is to be understood that the padmay extend above the insole if desired. The heel pad, of course, may becemented in place to form a part of the insole prior to nailing theinsole into the shoe.

In Fig. 6 the innersole I2 is skived at its rear portion to have a thinportion 38 in the same manner as in Fig. 3, but in this form the pad maybe of solid rubber vulcanized to the innersole as indicated by 4I.Furthermore, in this form the rubber pad 4I may be formed with a harderlayer of rubber at its bottom portion than at its upper portion so thatthe nails will clinch to the harder portion of the rubber beneath thesoft top surface of the rubber pad.

In Fig. '7 the heel cushion 42 is composed of rubber 44 and a thin metalplate 46 which may be in a single piece, as shown, or in separatepieces. The metal plate is punctured from the underside to provide smallperforations 48 through the plate and burs 59 on the upper side of theplate. The rubber is applied to form a thin layer on the underside ofthe plate and a built into a shoe and shows the outsole I0, insole A,

I2, upper I4 and heel IE as in Fig. 5. The lasting tacks 52 do not gothrough the plate 46 but the heel nails 54 are driven through the plateand the points 56 are turned over to clinch on the plate. The turnedover points will be beneath the upper surface of the heel cushion.

It is to be further understood that the same result of obtaining a softheel cushion may be obtained by making the entire insole in two layersinstead of just the heel portion, as shown, and in this form the upperlayer would be of soft material and the under layer of stiffer material,and a nail anchoring strip would be used in the same manner as abovedescribed.

Fig. 10 illustrates another form of construction in which the insole iscomposed of a stiff bottom ply 6B and a thin, more flexible upper ply62. At the heel portion the plies 60 and 62 are separated to receive asoft rubber insert S4. The parts are cemented together and the insole isnailed into the shoe in the regular manner. 'Ihe nails will countersinkthrough the top layer 62 and the rubber 64 to anchor on the bottom layerEIL:A

I have'disclosed several embodiments of the U manner` in Which myinvention may be carried out in practice, but it is to be understoodthat various modifications may be resorted to in commercial practiceWithout departing from the spirit of my invention, as expressed in theappended n claims.

I claim:

1. In a boot or shoe having an insole, outsole and heel, a heelprotector covering the heel portion of the insole composed of a body ofrubber and a nail anchoring plate in the body of rubber and nailsattaching the heel to the outsole, said nails extending through theheel, outsole, insole and the anchoring plate of the heel protector, thepoints of the nails being clinched to the anchoring plate and lyingbeneath the outer rubber surface of the heel protector.

2. In a boot or shoe having an insole, outsole and heel, a heelprotector attached to the heel portion of the insole composed of a bodyof rubber and a thin metal plate embedded in the rubber body and nailsattaching the heel to the shoe, the heads of the nails being anchored inthe heel and the points of the nails extending through the metal plate,said points being turned over and clinched to the metal plate so as tolie within the body rubber beneath the upper surface thereof.

CLAUDE H. DANIELS.

